On the heels of a record 4.4 million Americans quitting their jobs in September comes a new workforce trend: “unretiring.” MarketWatch reported that more than 2.5% of retired workers returned to work last month.
The pandemic caused roughly 3 million workers to retire early. Now, some of them are coming back. Nick Bunker, the director of economic research at Indeed Hiring Lab who did the analysis, told MarketWatch: “Now that the labor market is stronger, more people who said they were retired are being enticed by stronger wages and more job opportunities.”
This is good news for companies struggling to find workers. MarketWatch reported that early retirements are one reason that labor force participation is still below pre-pandemic levels. Luring these people back will be key to filling the 10.4 jobs that were open as of the end of September.
